Laserfiche WebLink
<br />n~-~,~ <br />'L.,. It.,.. ~. -Mo.,.). <br /> <br />Saline Water (OSW) argued strongly for a mammoth desalting plant-the largest <br />in the world. Its leadership saw the Mexican problem as an opportunity to <br />demonstrate the technology whose development it had fostered over twenty years, <br />and to rebuild support for its program. <br /> <br />At the time of Echeverria's visit, OSW had even lobbied the White House for a <br />$140 million, 200 mgd plant near Yuma, Arizona-and allowed word of it to reach <br />The Wall Street Journal.17 Kissinger reportedly was intrigued by the possibilities of <br />this new technology.lS Even Echeverria seemed to have caught some of the spirit. <br />In his speech to Congress, he said: "It is impossible to understand why the United <br />States does not use the same boldness and imagination that it applies to complex <br />problems with its enemies to the solution of simple problems with its friends."19 <br /> <br />When Kissinger's message reached Interior, the advocates of desalting pressed <br />their case: While Reclamation's top managers were out of the country, Assistant <br />Secretary Smith decided that the Bureau should be represented on the Working <br />Group by the Planning staff-which had responsibility for new technologies-rather <br />than the Water Operations staff. (Water Operations was responsible for <br />overseeing operation and maintenance of completed projects such as <br />Wellton-Mohawk, and administering the water users' service contracts for water <br />from these projects. Its managers had supported a salt balance approach.) And <br />OSW would be represented by its own staff, not Reclamation's. <br /> <br />During the first week in October, Brownell and his staff visited Wellton-Mohawk, <br />toured the border area, and were given an introduction to desalting technology. .~. <br />State and Interior Task Force and Working Group members accompanied them <br />on the trip, as did some Committee of Fourteen members. Upon his return, <br />Working Group Chairman Sam Eaton announced that he and the Special <br />Representative had been very impressed by the promise of desalting. <br /> <br />OMB representatives on the Working Group, unaware of Kissinger's order but <br />alarmed at the growing support for a desalting plant, contended that the plant was <br />an unnecessarily costly solution that conflicted with the President's water pollution <br />control policy, that it was based on technology unproven on a large scale, and that <br />it would have unknown environmental effects. The environmental concerns were <br />shared by EP A, CEQ and the Corps of Engineers. OST was also troubled by the <br />technical feasibility of such a large plant. Then Agriculture's representatives <br />suggested that the Department's experimental on-farm irrigation management <br />programs, which it ran in cooperation with Reclamation, might be used on <br />Wellton-Mohawk farms to improve irrigation efficiency and thus reduce the <br />volume of return flows. Less drainage would mean a smaller, less costly desalting <br />plant. <br /> <br />As a result of these discussions in early October, OMB was asked to chair a <br />Working Group Subgroup on Irrigation Efficiency, to report on the feasibility of <br />reducing salt loading and return flow volume through improved on-farm water <br />management. With the assistance of scientists from ARS's National Salinity <br /> <br />browneU,rpl <br /> <br />8 <br /> <br />September 1991 <br />